Government Ordered to Release Charloe Musu’s Body for Burial

The family of Charloe Musu can now move forward with burial preparations after a ruling from the Supreme Court of Liberia reversed the guilty verdict against former Chief Justice Gloria Musu Scott and three of her family members. On Monday, September 9, 2024, Criminal Court “A” ordered the Ministry of Justice to release Musu’s remains to her family, after weeks of legal proceedings.

“Based on the Ruling from the Supreme Court of Liberia, the family members can now proceed to the St. Moses Funeral Home to take delivery of Charloe Musu’s body,” announced the Court, as Judge Roosevelt Z. Willie read the August 28, 2024, mandate.

This decision followed the defense’s appeal, stating that while their clients had been acquitted and released, they had not been granted full access to their home in Virginia, Montserrado County, nor to the remains of Charloe Musu. The defense requested the court to issue instructions to the Ministry of Justice, allowing the family to retrieve the body for burial.

The prosecution countered that the family had been granted access to their home during the trial, with police providing security around the property. However, Judge Willie clarified that the restriction on Musu’s body had already been lifted during the trial, and the family could proceed with funeral arrangements. The court further ordered the Ministry of Justice to give the family full access to their residence.

Despite these rulings, the Musu family refuted the prosecution’s claims, maintaining that they had faced challenges in accessing both the property and Charloe Musu’s remains. They accused the government of mishandling the case, citing earlier incidents when their home was breached by intruders while the family was imprisoned awaiting appeal.

The family expressed frustration over the lack of police presence at the house when intruders were arrested with keys to the premises, raising concerns about how the security of the property was managed. These intrusions, which occurred during the trial, resulted in the theft of various items from the home.

The suspects in the break-in, Blessing Cooper and Abraham Jerbo, admitted to the crime but offered confusing explanations regarding how they accessed the compound. Despite these confessions, the family criticized the police for conducting the investigation without consulting them, and for charging the intruders without involving the owners of the property in assessing the extent of the damage.

As the family prepares to finally lay Charloe Musu to rest, they continue to question the legal processes and the management of both their property and the case as a whole. They fear that the investigation into the break-ins may have been deliberately mismanaged to allow the suspects to escape justice.